MACOMB, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois volleyball team (4-12, 0-6 OVC) dropped their Friday contest at Western Illinois (10-8, 4-3 OVC) by a score of 1-3. The evening was headlined by a pair of strong offensive showings from Kaitlyn Flynn and Katie Kopshever. The final set scores were as follows: 29-31, 25-22, 19-25, 17-25.

Eastern came out of the gates strong and controlled much of the first set, opening up as much as a seven-point lead. However, after falling behind 18-11, the Leathernecks went to work and fought their way back to eventually overtake the Panthers 25-24. The teams traded blows until back-to-back kills put EIU back in front 29-28, but WIU fended off the set point and closed the frame on a 3-0 run to take the set.

EIU responded in set two, as they got out to an early lead and extended their advantage to as many as six points. Western again fought back and closed the gap to 21-20, but the Panthers finished things off and evened the match with a 4-2 run that included three kills from Kaitlyn Flynn.

Eastern got out to another early lead in the third frame, but a 10-2 run by WIU put the crew from Charleston in a five-point hole. The Panthers rallied and cut the deficit to just one on a pair of occasions, but they could never find the tying point as Western scored five straight to close the set and take a 2-1 match lead.

In the fourth set, Western took an early 4-3 lead and would not relinquish their advantage for the remainder of the frame, stifling any EIU rally attempts as they extended their lead on the way to an eight-point win that secured the match.

Katie Kopshever led the EIU attack with season-high 18 kills. She was closely followed by Kaitlyn Flynn with 17 terminations.

Meanwhile, Paige Gardella and Sylvia Hasz combined for 58 assists. Gardella accounted for 31 of those, which is a season high for the graduate student.

Laura Paniagua had a strong defensive showing with a new career high 26 digs. Kaitlyn Flynn also posted double-digit digs with 11 to give herself a double-double.

EIU will return home next week for a trio of OVC contest. First, the Panthers will welcome SIUE to Groniger Arena on Tuesday, October 15th at 6 p.m. before hosting Tennessee Tech for pair of matches on Friday and Saturday.